The Christmas Party
by citroensandblueteacups
Summary: Nelson is hosting a Christmas party. Gabriel convinces Riley to come so that she isn't alone for the holidays. Gabriel x Riley. Chapter 4 updated.
1. Chapter 1 - The Idea

**Disclaimer:** The characters aren't mine, only the plot. *Oh how I wish they were.*

**Chapter 1** – The Idea

Gabriel Vaughn sat back in his chair and wiped the sweat off his brow. In a few days when he would be on Christmas vacation, he vowed to get in the habit of working out more.

Today he'd had to chase a suspect for at least two blocks straight in the cold and up an icy flight of stairs before Riley followed and helped him arrest the guy. He didn't figure it was fair that she'd thought to find the car while he was stuck on foot.

He glanced at his partner. Riley Neal was leaning over the table in one of the U.S. Cyber Command's computer rooms, filling out some paperwork while they awaited a meeting with their boss. Gabriel shook his head, remembering how she'd barely run out of breath when she climbed the same stairs Gabriel had.

What frustrated him was that Riley hadn't taken the same route as Gabriel, for the suspect had chosen to run down a few dark narrow alleyways instead of taking the streets. She hadn't gotten there in time to see the guy defend himself by throwing Gabriel against a wall, breaking his favorite wristwatch.

At least she was able to tackle the suspect in the snow before he made another break for it. Gabriel took satisfaction knowing how emasculated the guy must have felt. As rarely as he liked to admit it aloud, Gabriel really appreciated his partner's backup.

Not having moved from the chair, Gabriel now sat fiddling with the broken watch, frowning at the way the little hands under the glass piece refused to move. "Why are criminals so stupid?"

"I feel like that sentence is self-explanatory," Riley answered without looking up, flipping the page of the most recent form she'd begun filling out.

He grunted and felt for the worn engravings on the back of the watch with his finger. "Still. You'd think they have the brains not to resist arrest. Always gets them nowhere," Gabriel trailed off absently, turning the object in his hands over.

"I couldn't agree more," Riley said and looked up, flashing him a grin. Upon noticing his broken wristwatch, she set down her pen and held her hand out to look at it. Warily, her partner relinquished it.

"Careful, it was my father's," he frowned, hearing the melancholy in his own voice. "He left it for me after he died."

His words caught Riley's attention and her eyes snapped up to his. "Gabriel, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," he mumbled, though it was clearly not. He took the watch back quickly and shoved it in his pocket. "Let's talk about something else. What are you doing for Christmas?"

"Same thing you're doing," she replied. Riley tried smiling, but it came out as more of a grimace.

"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked, genuinely confused. He watched his partner look anywhere but at him and it gave him a bad feeling. "Riley? You don't mean-"

"You guessed it." She was chewing on her lower lip now, a habit Riley often had when she was trying to hide how upset she was about something. "It's no big deal. It's my job."

"No big deal?" He repeated. He took a deep breath to keep his voice from rising. "Even I know nobody should have to work during the holidays. Especially if it's my fault you have to work in the first place."

"Gabriel, I knew becoming your bodyguard was going to be a full-time job when I signed on. Quit worrying about it," Riley dismissed him. The worry lines on her forehead smoothed out as she tried to assure him he wasn't to blame. "And don't even think about trying to talk to Lillian. You want to try and hire a temporary bodyguard on short notice during Christmas?"

Her point was made. Still, she was his partner. If he were to admit it, she was a good friend, too. Riley was more patient than any of the other guards that had been hired to protect him. She got through to him. Anyways, he wished he could've done at least something nice in return.

"You could visit your family afterwards, couldn't you?" he suggested.

He noticed a cloudy look pass over her features, but she was saved from answering when their colleague Nelson Cassidy walked in, looking about as miffed as Gabriel had a moment ago.

"_Hey_," Nelson ground out before marching over to his computer. Scowling at the screen, he asked, "How are _your_ Tuesdays going?

"Just about as good as yours, I'm betting," Riley said. She glanced at her partner before turning back to their friend. "What's wrong?"

"Everything," Nelson sighed dramatically. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Okay, not everything. I was trying to organize a holiday party."

"We know," Gabriel asked. "So?"

"_So_ I've been planning this since November. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I have no place to hold the party." He sat down in a nearby chair and crossed his arms, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"How come?"

Nelson turned his head towards Gabriel. "I was hoping to have it at my apartment, but there was a gas leak in the building last night and no one is allowed back for a while."

"Geez," said Gabriel. "I'm glad you're alright." Riley expressed her sympathy too, but Nelson waved off their concerns.

"It's stupid, but I'm more upset about the party than the gas leak," he said. "Nobody got hurt, anyway."

"Why not ask your Dad about the party?" Riley suggested. She tilted her head in genuine thought. Gabriel knew the party was actually something she was interested in going to. Riley seemed to be more one to celebrate than even he was, so he started to feel bad that Nelson's party was cancelled.

"I did," he replied, ears turning pink. "He won't let me have a party in his house past 9:00, which is when the old man goes to bed."

A knock on the door caught the agents' attention. Lillian Strand walked through the doorway and greeted them all with envelopes in hand. Her smile wavered only slightly when she saw the three of them sitting and staring glumly back at her. "Well. I can see everybody's already in the Christmas spirit."

"We're fine, Ma'am," Riley answered. Lillian started handing the envelopes out. "What's this?"

"Your holiday bonus," Lillian told them. She smoothed out her skirt, one with a particular shade of red that matched her hair. They all thanked her and stood up to shake her hand. "I thought I'd deliver them myself along with the other good news."

"Which is much needed right now," Nelson mumbled under his breath.

"I'm going to be visiting my daughter in San Francisco," she said. "I've decided to give you an extended weekend off. I don't want to see anybody in the office from Christmas until Monday," she paused. "However, you can expect a call if an emergency comes up."

Without waiting for their responses, Lillian smiled to herself and turned on her heel, strutting back to her office.

"Well," started Gabriel. "That was nice. Sort of."

"A whole week to sit at home and not go to work. What _will_ I do with myself?" Riley asked, a hint of frustration in her tone. She hid any frown from her face when Gabriel glanced at her but it wasn't hard to tell how she was feeling.

"So what did you say your family is doing?"

"You know about the strained relationship between my mom and me. I haven't been able to spend Christmas with her in… too long," she sighed. She brought up a hand to knead the muscles between her neck and shoulder. "My brother told me he'll be with her this Christmas, so..."

He looked at his tough-as-nails partner. He knew that she wasn't bothered by much, but Gabriel could swear her eyes started to get glassy before she turned and left the room to go home. That struck something in him.

He walked over to where Nelson was sitting and staring at his bonus check. When Nelson looked up, Gabriel said, "I have a proposition for you. What if you had the party in my apartment?"

Nelson sat up straight in his chair. "Wait, really?"

"Alright, don't get too excited. We need to establish ground rules," Gabriel warned him.

As they talked, Gabriel was less and less sure he wanted Nelson and bunch of other drunk office mates partying in his apartment. On the other hand, he thought there was a chance that it would be nice to actually have people over at his place for a change. Gabriel used to be more social and outgoing before he started working for the USCC, but hadn't gotten out much after. The job took up much of his time, and any other free moments were often spent with Riley.

"I'm not going to regret this, am I Nelson?"

"Of course not!" Nelson smiled widely, if not a little mischievously. Gabriel suppressed a groan.

The only thing that kept him from going back on his plan was the hope that Riley would be happy.

A/N: Hey! I hope you're enjoying this ficlet. I have to apologize ahead of time because this is like, two weeks after Christmas. But you know, I figured it was either 'write this late' or 'wait until next Christmas.' So obviously, I chose the more fun option.

Mistletoe in future chapters! (And that's all the spoilers I'm giving away for today.) Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2 - The Convincing

**Disclaimer:** *Stormtrooper voice*: This is not the creator you're looking for. (It is the dork you're looking for, though.)

**Chapter 2 – The Convincing**

It was Christmas Eve and Riley had just come home to her apartment. Her pocket vibrated and she pulled out her cell phone to view a text from Gabriel.

_I've got a surprise for you_.

_Not in the mood_, she replied.

She set the phone in her pants pocket and took off her coat. In the kitchen she stared at her empty refrigerator and tried to decide what to eat. Riley's stomach growled, but she found she didn't have the appetite for (nor the energy to cook) a full meal, so she gave up and sat on the couch.

Riley reached for the phone again, thinking Chinese takeout would be a perfectly acceptably Christmas dinner to eat by herself. Before she could dial the number, however, another text from Gabriel appeared.

_I promise you'll like it. Come on over._

She scoffed. Surprises from Gabriel were rarely good. Besides, she was _so_ not in the mood to be around other people. All she wanted to do was sit around in her pajamas and watch _It's a Wonderful Life_, an old family tradition she used to celebrate.

_I'm trying to get dinner ready, Gabriel_.

It was half true. She gathered her collection of takeout menus and put the DVD in. While the opening scenes rolled on the screen, Riley changed into a comfy pair of sweatpants, a shirt from her training days, and found a stash of Oreos to hold her over.

George Bailey came onto the television in black and white and Riley smiled at the memories the movie brought up. The music triggered visions of her brother when they were younger – his first Christmas when her parents were thrilled that the family was home together. That was way before her stepdad came into the picture. She remembered the dolls she'd gotten that year and the pink bike the year after that.

The sound of loud holiday music somewhere nearby broke her out of it. She felt a dampness on her cheek and realized she'd been crying. Riley wiped the wetness away and popped another Oreo in her mouth. She would be fine. It wasn't the first estranged Christmas she'd experienced. It just sucked because she hadn't even been able to visit her brother in over a year, the one family member that she was positive loved her back.

When she thought about her mother, she felt a physical ache in her heart. How long had it been since they'd even seen each other? No matter how much her mom refused to talk, Riley always stupidly held onto the hope that one day she would come around, come to the realization that Riley had only ever tried to protect her, or that her mother would someday welcome her daughter back with open arms.

Ninety-five percent of the time, she put up a front, pushing her emotions down so that she could focus on work. She thought that maybe, just _maybe_ she could let down her guard today of all days.

Another stray tear rolled down her cheek and yet another Oreo was eaten. Her pocket buzzed again.

_I have tons of food here. Look out the balcony if you don't believe me._

She'd almost completely forgotten about ordering food in light of the now-empty package of cookies.

_Gabriel, are you in any danger whatsoever?_

_No?_

_Are you on fire?_

_No…_

_Then what makes you think I'm going to leave my couch?_

She set down the phone. Riley appreciated the effort he put in to making her feel better, but her movie was almost over with and she was in quite an unacceptable state.

The only things Riley had done today to feel productive were to check on Gabriel early that morning and to go Christmas shopping for her brother. Usually she did like to be kept busy and moving, and forcing herself to relax had almost been a challenge. It wasn't a typical day, but letting out some of her pent-up frustration was already helping.

The end of the movie had come soon enough and it was starting to get dark in her apartment. The warm sounds of a holiday gathering were coming from somewhere. Laughter and music floated through the air and Riley started wishing Nelson's party were still on. As gross as she felt, the loneliness was seriously starting to set in.

Maybe it was the sugar from the Oreos along with that, but she was struck with a burst of curiosity. She glanced at her phone again to see a missed call from Gabriel. Brushing the crumbs off of her sweatpants and pushing a hand through her hair, she reached her balcony in three seconds flat. Her fingers dialed a number she knew by heart and she eagerly pushed the sound of a dial tone against her ear.

"Riley?"

"Gabriel?"

"Did you get off the couch yet?" he asked. There was loud music in the background, and the same laughter she heard from her own balcony was coming from his end.

"Yeah," she breathed. "When were you going to tell me about your Christmas party?" she asked, trying to keep the disbelief out of her voice. She told herself not to be upset that he hadn't told her about having a party. "You know, I should be with you if there's a large crowd."

"You're kidding, right?" Gabriel chuckled, the sound infuriating to her ears. "This is my surprise for you. I've been waiting for an hour and a half for you to come down, but the guests already started arriving."

An odd, warm feeling erupted in her chest. Any hurt or jealousy was gone in an instance, replaced by a strange heat on her cheeks. She was trying to think of something to say, _anything_ to say, but all she came up with was, "W-what?"

Gabriel sighed. She saw his figure appear at the window, running a hand through his hair. Realizing her current state of dress, she backed up so that she was behind her curtains. Riley heard him chuckle, but he didn't comment. "The Christmas party. I let Nelson host it here so we'd all have a nice evening together."

"You did?" Riley asked, aware that her voice sounded a tad higher than normal. Without her permission, her feet moved forward again so that she could see the outline of him. He was grinning from ear to ear up at her, devilish smile beaming. Her lower lip was caught between her teeth.

"Lovely sweatpants," he told her, pretending to sweep his eyes up and down her form from his window. She heard his chuckle through the receiver again. "You can come down in those if you want, or you don't have to come at all really."

She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, trying to tell if he was serious or not. From what she could see, he wasn't wearing his charming smile anymore. "But you did something really nice, for once."

"For once? For- Okay, you know what, we won't get into that right now because it is Christmas Eve. And I would really like you to come to this party so I don't have to be alone with Nelson's friends. They drink more than I do, and I'm afraid they're going to start breaking things soon. And do you _hear_ this music?"

Gabriel was rambling. She couldn't help the grin on her face. The sound of some cheesy Christmas song was coming through the windows now, and she almost wasn't sure how he hadn't gotten any noise complaints.

Come to think of it, he was probably interfering with any calls to the cops using the chip. The noise was probably just loud enough to reach her apartment on purpose. "I definitely hear the music, loud and clear, Gabriel."

"They're Nelson's picks," he pouted, raising his arm up to lean against the window frame and view her better. Riley decided that the Oreos definitely must have been expired, because his handsome gaze was – well, she was describing it as handsome, and that was enough to alarm her.

Perhaps it was a good thing she had stayed home.

"You'll be fine," Riley reassured him. "I thought you invited people from the office, too?"

"Not a lot of them are here yet. And I think a lot of the Cassidy relatives must be here too, or Nelson's tech friends. Most of them are wearing ugly sweaters. Why did that trend ever leave the nineties?" he shook his head.

"I don't know."

Things were getting louder in the background of Gabriel's apartment presumably as more people entered his loft. She heard him swear under his breath. "Alright, I'm going to have to go break up something, so I'll leave you to decide."

"Thanks, Gabriel."

"No problem, it's your choice," he said nonchalantly.

"Okay," she nodded. Then, on his end, there was a definite sound of something breaking.

Then, Gabriel mumbled, "Just want you to be happy." He said it so quickly and far away from the receiver that she almost hadn't caught it, but before she could ask Gabriel to repeat himself, he'd hung up.

_Huh. So he let Nelson throw his party?_ Riley thought to herself. Apparently, he didn't want to see her sitting alone in her apartment all night. There was music and friends and fun, so he'd implied.

And Gabriel _did_ say he was serving food.

With renewed vigor, Riley headed to her closet to pick out a decent outfit, illuminating the Christmas string-lights hanging in her living room on the way.

**A/N**: Hope you're still enjoying this storyline so far. :) Thanks for the kind reviews! They encourage me to continue writing this. I really missed you guys. Like, really _really_ missed you. Special thanks to the first reviewers: **someday-makes-me-sad**, **TearsInTheDust**, and **kwisteria**. Hope you're having a great 2015! (It's the anniversary of the premiere of Intelligence, you know…)


	3. Chapter 3 - The Arrival

**Disclaimer: **I am but a homely fanfiction writer, sadly not the creators of these characters.

**Chapter 3 **– The Arrival

"Just want you to be happy."

Gabriel threw down the phone and stared at it for a moment.

_Had he really just said that out loud?_ And before he'd hung up? Hell of a mistake. He really hoped Riley hadn't caught that.

Shaking it off, he turned towards the noise he'd heard a moment ago and pushed his way through the small crowd gathering in his kitchen. More sounds of breaking glass were coming from his living room and he found Nelson on his couch, a gathering of his friends leaning over his shoulder.

_Crash_.

"Nelson, what are you doing?" Gabriel asked. He failed to keep the tense edge out of his voice, but regretted it once he noticed they were only crowded around a phone screen.

"Sorry, is the volume to loud?" Nelson asked and held up the video. His friends laughed as something else crashed and broke in the short film.

"A little. Why could I hear that over the music?"

"Oh, there's a specific frequency only this new model of-"

But then Gabriel tuned him out. It didn't matter that he had a chip installed in his head that actually would've allowed him to comprehend what Nelson was going on about. He really just didn't care, and was starting to get grumpy.

Nelson stopped his rant when the video flickered and dimmed on the screen. "Hey! Gabriel, don't," he pleaded.

"Sorry. Accident," Gabriel said. Truly it was. There were red and green decorations all over his apartment, jolly music, and some of the best holiday cookies could be found on plates strategically placed all around the room. Everybody else looked happy. Why couldn't he just enjoy himself?

"Don't you like the decorations?" Nelson asked. Gabriel must have been staring at them too hard because Nelson was following his line of sight.

"Yeah, they're fine," he sighed and tried for a smile. "You're still picking them up, right?"

"Of course! You said it was part of the deal, right?" Nelson handed the phone to someone else to stand up and talk privately. "I assure you I do _not_ want to get on your bad side."

He smirked. "No. You don't." Nelson laughed a first, but Gabriel kept a straight face just to mess with him.

Okay, _now_ he was enjoying himself.

When his friend started to look worried, he joked, "I'm kidding. Dr. Cassidy would kill me and uninstall the chip himself."

"Not funny," Nelson told him with a smile that was almost a grimace. He left to talk to his group again.

Meanwhile, Gabriel went on the search for more cookies. He rolled his eyes as another boisterous grouped was let into the apartment. Soon he was pacing about the room and pretending to do something. Nelson had told him he wouldn't regret holding the party, hadn't he?

A drink of water would surely calm him down. It took him much too long to make his way through the crowd this time and get to the kitchen. Over people's heads, he saw more people coming through the door that were not his partner.

_Christ, how many strangers did Nelson invite?_

He took a sip of water and set it down only to realize the few people with him in the kitchen were starting at him. Maybe he'd accidentally said that out loud. "What?"

They turned away shyly and Gabriel willed himself to prevent any other self-embarrassment in his own home. If that door wouldn't keep opening, he wouldn't be so distracted.

A text broke him out of his thoughts, and he eagerly opened it. To his surprise, it was from Nelson.

_It's okay, she'll come soon._

What? She- Wait, Gabriel wasn't waiting for her. _Her who? _Gabriel thought.

In a reflexive motion, he glanced out the window towards Riley's apartment. Strangely enough, he thought he noticed a flickering of lights.

So she was still there. Maybe she really wasn't coming down after all_._ He crumpled the plastic cup in his hand.

It was fine. Everything was fine. He'd told her she didn't have to come down anyway, right? It was her choice. If she was happier staying alone while he was down here with god knows who celebrating at his place, it was fine.

Maybe he should check on her just to make sure.

Gabriel searched around the corner for his bedroom and made sure he'd closed the door. Nelson appeared to have a handle on things. There were lots of people, but his apartment wasn't totally packed yet. The densest group of partyers had apparently decided the place to be was in front of his door. They all had shots in hand and counted down from five until they were closing their eyes and trying to swallow them down. Gabriel really hoped they hadn't gotten the alcohol from his personal supply.

"Excuse me," he said, but the music got louder when he'd said the words and not one of them heard. "Hey," he tried louder, but they were laughing at something and not paying attention still.

He took a deep breath. The best way through, he decided, was just to try pushing his way through. Something happened along the way - a foot stuck out where it shouldn't have been, and Gabriel only just got the door open before he tripped and someone's push sent him into the hall.

His hands shot in front of him and he caught himself on someone's shoulders. The momentum should've pushed the other person down, but the woman held her own. Well, more or less; she grabbed onto Gabriel's shoulders and moved one foot backwards to keep them steady.

He was further in her personal space than he'd meant to be, but hadn't realized it until he met the pair of green eyes staring back at him.

"Leaving so soon?" Riley asked.

"Uh," he stammered, fingers curling into the soft fabric on her arms. Gabriel was sure he'd turned some shade of red as he tried to find his words. "Nope. Just needed some air."

"Have you been drinking?" she smirked at him. He found his balance and stood upright at a respectable distance from her.

"No, just tripped," he explained. Gabriel cleared his throat. He pointed at her shirt and said, "Very soft. I never thought I'd see a decent Christmas sweater."

"It's not too bad, huh?" Riley asked, still smirking. She was having fun taking advantage of his embarrassment. It really did look nice on her, though.

"Not bad at all," he smiled. "You'll make all the others jealous." When she looked down for a minute, he made a face at himself. _Was there no end to his babbling tonight? _

"How is it in there?" she motioned towards the door with a jerk of her head. Neither of them made a move towards it.

"Loud, a little crowded. But nice," Gabriel told her. But it was a nicer quiet bubble they had in the hall, and he didn't feel like breaking it quite yet. "I wasn't sure you were going to make it."

She smiled briefly. The way the lights were in the hall made her eyes look a tad red, like she'd been upset. He felt a pang of regret for wanting to make her come here.

"I figured I'd stay for a little while." She was pushed a strand of hair behind her ear with the hand that was not carrying her coat. She didn't look as upset when she told him, "Plus, you said you had food. Can't go wrong with that offer."

He smiled when Riley sucked in her lower lip and shrugged. "Alright," he conceded. "Let's get you something to eat."

Gabriel turned around and opened the door, but it hit something on the other side. An unmanly squeal accompanied the thud, and Riley glanced at her partner. "What the hell was that?"

"Sounded like the call of a wild Nelson," Gabriel answered. Riley smirked again.

He took Riley's wrist loosely to help guide her through the door's small opening. She followed, using his arm for support. They stopped once they were both on the other side and shut the door to see Nelson high up, gripping a ladder very carefully; his eyes were wide and fearful.

Gabriel noticed what his friend had on the ladder with him, and dropped Riley's hand immediately.

"Nelson, NO," he said sharply.

"But-"

"Take it down, _now_."

Nelson frowned. He climbed down the ladder and took the mistletoe with him. "You take a lot of fun out things, you know."

**A/N:** So happy to hear your feedback! Still liking the storyline? I sure hope so. Really loving your reviews, guys. Special thanks to reviewers **DaughtersOfPoseidon333**, **kittiesgalore**, **amy. .9**, **Angel Blue** (I still think you should post anyways!), and **kwisteria**. 3 You're all beautiful. Thank you SO much!


	4. Chapter 4 - The Spiking

**A/N:** I accidentally posted an unedited version of the last chapter. It's fixed now with a few detail changes, so if you're confused this chapter it's my fault. Also, I actually put in the reviewers I meant to thank last time in that chapter. Oops…

**Disclaimer:** If these characters were mine, accidents like the one listed above wouldn't happen.

**Chapter 4** – The Spiking

Riley stared after Nelson. He left, as per Gabriel's request, to go put the mistletoe away. He didn't leave her sight completely before her partner brought her attention back to him when he took her coat and placed it in the closet.

"Food is right this way," he was saying. She looked ahead through the mangle of people towards the glorious smell of fresh food from the kitchen. _And she thought takeout would've been good._

There didn't seem to be as many people as Gabriel implied, Riley thought. The guests were concentrated in the middle of his apartment and somehow had made it seem like the living room was fuller. He was right, though, about the lack of faces that were recognizable. Wasn't anyone from the office invited? It was a wonder Nelson made this many friends outside of work.

Riley supposed that was kind of mean to assume he had no social life. She herself never found much time to do much else other than work, but then again, her job description was very different from Nelson's.

Other than the strange guests, Riley saw the apartment was decorated beautifully. The wall donned Christmas lights like her own, but there were many more and they crisscrossed on the ceiling, illuminating the apartment with a soft light. Any other of Gabriel's floor lamps were turned off, but each of the objects were decorated with varying lengths of garland.

Little green candles that were evergreen-scented seemed to litter any non-flammable surface, especially the coffee table. A laptop hooked up to the television with a HDMI cable told her Sinclair's _Last Christmas_ was the current song playing. It was exceptionally festive, and she couldn't help but feel pleased at the amount of effort put into making the apartment look this good.

Among the smell of the candles was the aroma of lasagna, which Riley identified as soon as she set eyes on the dish. Gabriel had led them to the kitchen and was already cutting her a slice while she'd been distracted by the decorations. He handed her the plate and she took it eagerly, sitting on a stool under the island counter.

"Was this all you?" she asked him, gesturing with a forkful of food. It wasn't on the fork for long before she took a bite and nodded approvingly. Her accompanying hum was appreciative.

"Nah," he looked away. "These are Nelson's decorations. And _his_ music," he smirked. Gabriel turned back to her.

"It's not that bad," Riley said, thinking aloud.

She'd spoken too soon though, because the speakers started blaring a certain song pertaining to reindeers and grandmothers. Gabriel's face dropped after the first line and clenched his jaw, silently departing and making a beeline for the laptop.

Riley dug into the lasagna and waited for the music to start up again. She couldn't see over the crowd, but heard Nelson's protests and the guests' murmurs as they were distracted by the abrupt silence. The food settled warmly in her stomach and eased the hollow hunger pains, occupying her thoughts, and she stuffed another (probably larger than social acceptable) piece of the lasagna into her mouth.

_God, what did he put in this_? Riley thought. She'd nearly started licking her fingers, but saw Gabriel's eyes arrested on her, trying not to smile. His dimples gave him away, and she grabbed a napkin before embarrassing herself.

When he came back, he was too sidetracked by the better music playing to remember to tease her. "See? Much better now," Gabriel told her, pointing to the TV.

"Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong," she read aloud. _I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm_ was a song she'd heard on the radio before at her grandparents. "I didn't know you were a jazz guy."

"Hey, if I'm going to have a Christmas party, it's going to be classy," Gabriel justified. "If Nelson tried clicking on another children's music station, I swear," he trailed off.

"There was like, _one_ bad song," she mused.

"Okay, you weren't here before." He let the issue drop and pointed at her plate. "Want more?"

Riley put her hands on her stomach. "I'm stuffed. Who made it?"

"Yours truly," he grinned proudly. "Surprised?"

She shook her head. "Happy."

Riley tried to convey her gratitude with a quick squeeze of her hand on his, but let her gaze drift towards the party instead of him. The meeting of their hands created a warm feeling that lingered when she broke away, the air strangely cool when her fingers left his.

It was easier to keep looking away than to have him meet her eyes and see the emotion there. As nonchalant as he was trying to act, it wasn't working. Riley could see that he'd put quite a bit of effort into making the party enjoyable. Gabriel probably would've used the word _tolerable_, but she thought it was just about the best thing anyone had done for her – and that was what made the holiday party perfect.

"I'm glad," he remarked behind her. She heard Gabriel swallow and he briefly touched her shoulder to grab her attention. Riley felt the same flicker of warmth from the contact and found the strength to look at him again.

His eyes were sympathetic. "I don't know about you, but I could use a drink."

"Sounds great to me," she nodded. Gabriel was shaping up to be a fantastic partner. No – a great friend. When he smiled to himself, Riley wondered if she'd accidentally uttered the words outloud. "What is it?"

"Just a thought," Gabriel suggested. "In the spirit of being festive, I must propose we spike the eggnog."

"That would be _completely_ mature," Riley said. "Let's do it." The boyish, hopeful look on his face was charming.

"It's so fun when you're fun," he said, giving her an approving once-over. He didn't wait for her to respond but gestured for her to follow as he grabbed a bottle of rum from off of his kitchen counter. "Bought this yesterday. It should do the trick."

"What do you mean _when_ I'm fun? I'm always fun." Riley frowned. Granted, she yelled at him half the time they worked together, but that was for good reason. It was her job to keep him in line. Well, basically. But that didn't mean she wasn't fun outside of the office.

"HA. Yeah," Gabriel scoffed, popping off the bottle's top. "I don't know what I was thinking." He held up the bottle of rum and teased, "Now be careful. Having fun includes many side-effects such as smiling, increased heartrate, and in some extreme cases, _laughing_." He shuddered.

"Shut up," Riley ordered, taking his words as a challenge. She took the rum away from him, shoving into him a bit as she strutted ahead to find the drink table.

It was good to feel him stare after her. All it once it felt like she had this overwhelming need to prove him wrong. Riley'd truly never thought of herself as uptight. Well, perhaps she was taking his jibe a little too seriously. Besides, he didn't know about _half_ of the things she'd done as a teenager. She had reached the table where the bowl of eggnog was but turned around to look at her partner.

"Did you mean that?" She asked. "Am I really that unpleasant?"

"I never said you weren't pleasant," Gabriel rushed to assure her. He shrugged. "I'm just saying that I've just never seen you let loose."

"So you're not taking any of that stuff you said before back?" Riley clarified.

"Well, I'm kind of more interested on what you're planning on doing with that bottle if I say no." His roguish gaze served only to further egg her on. Gabriel came nearer and stood very close so that their right and left shoulders touched. He pretended to look around suspiciously. "I've got you covered. The area is secure."

An impish smile dappled her own cheeks and she tilted the contents of the bottle into the bowl. Gabriel nodded his head at her in appreciation and hooked an arm around her back to create a better shield to prevent Nelson's prying eyes. When Riley finished pouring an appropriate amount of the alcohol, she felt Gabriel's fingers squeeze at her side.

He was close enough that she could smell the aftershave that he'd put on before the party. Gabriel released her side but didn't move away until Riley handed him what was left of the bottle.

With a tilt of the head, he said, "I think I'll save this for a later date," and disappeared into the crowd.

Riley watched him stride away and shook her head. Testing out the eggnog seemed like a good idea. She decided it would be better to distract herself rather than think about what her partner had just convinced her to do. Riley had to remember that technically she didn't have to go into work and that she would be with Gabriel the rest of the night, so perhaps she could allow herself to _"let loose"_ as he'd suggested.

She poured herself a glass, downed it, and tried to relax as the liquid heated her throat. _The eggnog definitely had a bit of a kick to it_, she thought. Riley didn't really care, though. In the back of her mind, a nagging thought about Gabriel had her reaching for another glass.

Riley was hoping that soon she'd be able to blame the alcohol for the bizarre way her skin started tingling every time her partner touched her.

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the chapter! More fun to come, as you can imagine. I promise I'll try to update sooner, but this time college happened. Love you all and thanks for reading! Especially these adorable reviewers: **Daughters of Poseidon, blueaoineechan, Lelylith, someday-makes-me-sad, Midgardian Avenger, Angel Blue, clay cowan, TearsInTheDust, kwisteria,** and** Iluvdolphins.**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Competition

**A/N:** SORRY FOR LATENESS. I was sitting at a review session for my next stats exam and as soon as I tried to pay attention, my imagination went wild with story ideas. SO – I'm using the first free time I've had in months (seriously) to finally write again. Sorry about the awful delay.

**Chapter 5 **– The Competition

Chris Jameson dusted the snow off of his jacket and stomped his boots against the floor mat, waving to Gabriel's doorman. He'd seldom been to his friend's apartment and was anxious to get to see it again.

When he'd heard that the Christmas party was still on, he knew he would plan on going. He wasn't going to pass up the chance to see how well Gabriel handled throwing a holiday party in his apartment (which he rarely ever invited guests into). Jameson smiled to himself in the elevator, thinking of how Nelson must have insisted on decorations.

He could hear the party from the elevator before the doors even opened. Halfway down the hallway, he could smell Christmas pine mixed in with the lingering scent of cigarette smoke. No one he knew in the office smoked, oddly enough. He vaguely wondered if Nelson had invited more people outside of work than in.

He soon arrived and rapped his knuckles against the door.

It swung open and someone with a beard and gaudy Christmas sweater gestured him inside. Jameson nodded to him, but the man was too busy bringing a beer bottle back to his mouth to notice.

As Ella Fitzgerald's Sleigh Ride came on, he looked around for Gabriel, wanting to give him the bottle of wine he'd picked up before leaving. A raucous was coming from the other end of the apartment, so Jameson followed the sound. He heard familiar voices shouting and nearly stopped in his tracks.

Gabriel and Riley were the ones shouting at the table, hands held up together in celebratory unison. Jameson furrowed his brow at the two – he rarely saw the partners outside of work, and it always surprised him how much nicer they were to each other without their jobs to stress them out.

Or, perhaps he just wasn't the first to bring alcohol to the party.

Upon arriving at the table, he saw a row of empty shot glasses lined up on either side of the table. Correction - almost empty. The row opposite of his colleagues, in front of a frowning couple that he didn't recognize, still had some remaining liquid.

"Drinking shots? I though you said this would be a classy party," Jameson said, clapping a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. He noticed Riley dropped her partner's hand almost immediately.

"Jameson!" Gabriel greeted. "These aren't even real shots- the only thing we had was the eggnog Riley spiked."

Riley whacked his arm. "It was a collective decision."

"But you were the one who physically spiked it."

"You told me to."

"It's not like you _had_ too," Gabriel pointed out. His tone was the one used purely for trying to piss off his partner.

"Seriously? You literally handed me the alcohol and- Okay, I'm not arguing about this."

"Yes, you are."

"Stop smiling. I hate it when you give me that look," Riley scowled.

Jameson watched with fascination as his presence quickly became forgotten. He turned around and went to the kitchen to find a place far away from them to set down the wine bottle.

It seemed that a lot had happened before he'd come.

**~Earlier~ Riley's POV~**

Riley had gone to sit on the couch and visit with the people who'd just walked through the door. Finally she recognized someone from work – it was Thomas Moore and his wife Karen. Thomas was a nice fellow agent who worked in a different department, but she knew him from several banquets that the office had thrown.

"Hey, how's it going?" Riley asked, greeting the couple.

"Oh, it's alright," Karen sighed. "Our flight got delayed, so we thought we'd stop over until the next one." She handed her coat to her husband. "Truthfully, I was hoping we'd have time to stop by and see everyone. It's been too long," she smiled.

"I agree," Riley nodded. "I doubt you'll recognize anybody here, though. For some reason, none of our people have really showed up yet."

"Oh, I know why," Thomas interrupted, coming back with two glasses of eggnog. He took a drink and inhaled sharply, but didn't otherwise complain. Riley pretended to wipe at her mouth to stifle a laugh. "I heard Lillian only gave your team a break. We got off because we've saved up vacation time, but everyone else is on call."

"Oh," she said. Riley hadn't thought that would happen. There was one good outcome, however – she wasn't sure the whole office would've been able to squeeze into Gabriel's apartment. "Lillian was supposed to be on a flight, too. I wonder if hers was delayed," She asked aloud.

The couple shrugged and continued to visit, trying to convince her to go on vacation – a real vacation where there was warm weather and beaches. They were describing their intended destination to her, but Riley was distracted when a pair of hands settled on her shoulders. She dipped her head backwards and peered up at Gabriel's thoughtful face.

Thomas and Karen's conversation didn't wane, so she gestured for him to sit next to her. He squeezed her shoulders and complied. Gabriel sat adjacent to her, facing Thomas. When talk of their trip transitioned into talk about the last time they'd had an office party, Gabriel looked knowingly at his friend.

"Hey, Tom," he grinned.

"Yeah?" Thomas sighed, looking uneasy.

Riley glanced between the two, as did Karen. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Thomas said.

"_Not _nothing," Gabriel insisted. "Last time we were at that charity banquet, Tom challenged me to a drinking game."

"C'mon," Thomas grimaced. He didn't look pained, but rather annoyed at himself.

"What happened?"

"He lost, so I had the right to challenge him to another game. He promised we'd go at it again next time, and it's next time."

Thomas rubbed a hand over his face. "I was just hoping you'd forget. I almost thought I'd dreamed the whole thing when I woke up. Seriously, what goes on in that brain of yours that you can suddenly remember everything so well?"

Riley and Gabriel shared a look. Tom knew nothing of his chip, being in a different department and all.

"Luckily I was there, along with his hangover, to remind him it did happen," Karen said, throwing a look at her husband. "I don't know why you agreed to it."

Thomas shook his head at his friend. "I think it had something to do with all the alcohol I drank."

"I'd be happy to let you settle the debt tonight," Gabriel offered. "I'll make it easier this time – we can have partners. And the best alcohol we've got is in the eggnog, so it won't be nearly as bad."

Thomas glanced down at his own cup of spiked eggnog, squinting at it while deciding.

Riley looked at Gabriel while Tom conferred with his wife. She leaned closer towards him to lower her voice to a whisper. "I take it I'm supposed to be your drinking partner?"

Gabriel shrugged. "You don't have to, but I thought we were _partners_."

"Yeah, for work," she responded. Riley closed her eyes for a second. "I can't get drunk. I'm still supposed to be on guard in case anything happens."

Gabriel nodded his head. He leaned back and stared out of focus. She almost disregarded the look, but she'd seen it before. "What are you doing?"

"Checking in with Jameson. He can be on watch, too," he insisted. A few seconds later and he moved on the couch so that he was facing her more directly. Head leaned in, Gabriel continued, "I messaged him about it, and he said he had no problem."

"I think that's a good idea," Riley frowned. It would be extremely irresponsible to let go of her duties just to enjoy a drinking game.

"Okay, we won't go too hard, then." Gabriel bounded his fist off of her knee, the one nearest to him. "Besides I told him to bring wine." With that, he settled back against the couch.

She shook her head. She could hold her liquor well, but didn't think she'd be able to let her guard down completely. Perhaps it was a good thing Jameson was providing back-up.

Thomas and Karen were standing up, looking resolved. Together they proceeded towards Gabriel's living room. Her partner had followed suit, but not before offering his elbow to escort her to the table as well. She snorted and shoved his arm away.

"Cut it out," she told him. Riley knew he was attempting to make up for dragging her into the challenge. "You won't be forgiven this easily."

Gabriel ignored her, of course.

"Okay fine. I said we had to have partners, but I didn't say we had to be equal. I'll drink most of it for you," he offered.

"Fair enough," she nodded.

"Okay," Tom started. He glanced at his wife, who looked none too pleased with him. "First team to drink the whole row wins. Go!"

Riley slowly took the glass to her mouth and sipped the drink as slow as she dared, watching as Gabriel downed each shot in a single swallow. She wasn't sure if she should be amused or disgusted by the ability.

Across from her, their opponents were losing. Tom had finished half of the row, but his wife had only drank half of what _he_ had drank. He closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing his most recent glass, and reached for another.

"Done!" Gabriel exclaimed suddenly, almost making her jump. In the short span of time that she'd looked away, he'd finished the entire row. Upon doing the same on the second round, he held up Riley's hand, caught up in his own excitement.

Then, out of nowhere, Jameson appeared and clapped Gabriel on the back. Riley jumped and pulled her hand back, suddenly self-conscious.

"Drinking shots?" he asked. "I thought you said this would be a classy party." Jameson grinned at both of them, laughing at his friend for the caught-off-guard look on his face. Gabriel started blaming Riley for the spiking of the eggnog, though, and she cut in.

Riley whacked his arm. "It was a collective decision."

"But you were the one who physically spiked it," Gabriel said, teasing her.

"You told me to," she fought back. Riley held his gaze, not letting him twist the story – however trivial the matter was.

"It's not like you _had_ too."

"Seriously? You literally handed me the alcohol and- Okay, I'm not arguing about this."

"Yes, you are."

"Stop smiling. I hate it when you give me that look," she scowled.

"This look?" Gabriel asked, putting a hand under his chin, only serving to emphasize the indents made me his dimples and start a little spark inside her – only it was more one of annoyance than anything else. She ached to smack his hand away and wipe the smile off of his face, but she wasn't in the mood to cause a scene. Instead, she fixed him with a sour look.

"Okay now you're just staring at me," Gabriel whispered. "That's the power of the dimples."

Karen laughed, and the partners were snapped out of their argument. "You must have had too much eggnog already. That's not staring, that's _glaring_."

Riley held up the empty glass of hers to Karen. She could really learn to love the woman. Gabriel was still confused, though and when she turned back to him, he was now staring at her with his brow furrowed and a frown replacing the grin.

"You're not really mad," he stated. "Alcohol loosens inhibitions, like your inhibitions to be angry with me."

"When is my anger at you ever inhibited?" she asked. Riley kept the serious face for about half a moment, watching as Gabriel's smile returned along with hers.

"Wow. I honestly don't understand how you two can go from hating each other to loving each other in like, two seconds flat," Tom stated bluntly.

Riley awkwardly coughed, hoping that the heat on her cheeks wasn't noticeable. Avoiding eye contact with her partner, she glanced around for a distraction. "I wonder where Jameson went…"

Gabriel looked about as if only just noticing his friend's absence. Jameson could be seen wandering around the food table with a full plate, and Riley realized he must have been gone longer than she thought too. She noticed that, upon facing their own drinking table again, Tom was giving Riley a knowing look. She didn't know what it meant, but the look forced the heat on her cheeks to grow brighter.

Her partner brought back the conversation. Gabriel started, "So, it looks like we won the last two rounds."

Tom still looked disgruntled. Karen shook her head at the unfinished row still in front of them. "What happens now?"

"Rules are, he has to play until he wins, or I call it off – and I do not," Gabriel smirked. He leaned towards his partner and whispered, "Or he could designate someone else, but he never remembers that rule."

Riley leaned back and considered something. Gabriel hadn't been slurring one bit. Though it was mainly eggnog they were having, it certainly did have a bit of a kick to it. She never liked drinking games much, but it did feel kind of exciting in the moment.

At the same time, though, she noticed Karen's impatience with her husband, and that was starting to make her feel guilty. Riley tried to smile at the effort her partner was making to keep her entertained, at least.

"Wait," Tom spoke up. Riley saw a flicker of doubt pass across Gabriel's features. "You said there was… Wasn't there a clause or something?" Before saying anything else he turned back to his still frowning wife to confer.

Riley saw Gabriel swallow. She leaned over to talk to him as well. "Why did you pick him as a drinking buddy? He can't hold his liquor, like, at all." She gestured to where Tom was standing, or rather, wobbling, in one spot.

"You know, he probably got some from the bottom of the punch bowl, where the liquor's concentrated," Gabriel shrugged. "Plus, he's usually a little bit better. I think he's faking it so his wife will feel sorry for him or something."

Riley gave Tom a sideways glance. "I don't know. Are you sure you didn't just pick him because you know you can win?"

He raised one eyebrow and put his hand on his chest. "Me? Never." However, she caught one hell of a devilish grin spreading across his face as he turned towards their opponents, and couldn't hide her own smile.

"Alright," Tom announced. "We're gonna opt out and switch with another two people. I can't drink fast, but some of Nelson's uncles look like they could swallow a Das Boot Glass in a single gulp."

"I can't believe you remembered for once," Gabriel said and rolled his eyes. "That's within the rules, but it is _also_ within the rules that the people who switch in with you have to volunteer."

"These stupid rules should be written down," Tom said under his breath. Speaking up a bit, he asked, "Does anyone want to fill in?" A few men looked like they would be takers, but each of their wives seemed to glare back at them, refusing to let their husbands make fools of themselves in a stranger's house.

"Fine, then you'll let me exercise the other rule," Tom conceded, "The one _you_ always forget. We get to choose a different challenge." He looked to his wife and she seemed to be a little less displeased with him, which appeared to be a confidence booster in his imbibed state.

"Oh yeah," Gabriel had leaned over and whispered to Riley again. "We both always forget something. I hope he'll pick something other than drinking shots in a line this time, because it's actually starting to get pretty boring."

"I pick Drink or Dare," Tom announced. "It's like truth or dare, only different. If you pick dare, you take a drink before doing the dare. If you pick truth and you don't want to answer a truly embarrassing and invasive question, you must also take a drink."

"Now this sounds like it could get interesting," Karen laughed, glancing at her opponents.

Riley firmly agreed, but she didn't think it was a good thing. She desperately hoped that a loosely-drunk Gabriel would have the sense in mind to not give away even the slightest thing about the supercomputer in his head.

Feeling the threat of a stress headache, Riley shot Jameson a quick text, asking if he would act as a second bodyguard for them tonight – if she was going to play the game, she would definitely need a second pair of eyes. Jameson replied, and now nearly worry-free, she prepared for the game ahead.

She nodded her head firmly, thinking to herself that she would most certainly regret this.

**A/N:** I promise I have not forgotten about this story. I'm not really sure if you guys are still following this, but I still am enjoying writing it (though by now it's COMPLETELY out of season). I love you all and miss writing fanfiction so much. I certainly hope it won't take three months to update again.

Thanks to you, you beautiful, _beautiful_ reviewers: **someday-makes-me-sad, Midgardian Avenger, AngelBlue68, blueaoineechan, Guest 1, .12979431 **(Thank you so much for that last lovely review on Never Better! *cries*), **clay cowan, Lelylith, and TearsInTheDust. I really appreciate your kind thoughts! Super sorry I kept you waiting!**


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